Torres: Sprinter ALBUM REVIEW

Sprinter is the sophomore album of guitarist and singer Mackenzie Scott, who performs under the moniker of Torres. Her first full length album, a self-titled album, was okay, but felt a but too stripped down and quiet for the emotions she was tackling on it. However, on this new album, we get to hear Mackenzie belt out some cathartic rockers in addition to her usual toned down, moodier tracks. Overall, Sprinter is a much more rounded and full sounding album, though a couple of the tracks here still fall victim to being a little to simple.

The opener "Strange Hellos" is a heavy rocker that could have easily been on an early PJ Harvey album, and the way Mackenzie lets her voice loose on this track is just fantastic. On the following track "New Skin" Scott tones things down, but still manages to create a memorable track, discussing the feeling of coming to a life-changing realization and thus having to try on a 'new skin'.

Aside from the opener, and maybe "Cowboy Guilt" this album is a series of atmospheric and gentle tracks that can seem a bit plain, especially on a track like "Ferris Wheel" where the track just goes on a little too long for the amount of instrumental changes it presents. That's not to say I dislike all of the slower tracks here, I actually love tracks like "Son, You Are No Island" and the closer "The Exchange" which is just so raw and personal, which is saying something since every track here is very much a personal emotional exorcism for Torres.

I'd say if you're a fan of artists like PJ Harvey, Hole, or even more folk-inspired acts like Sharron Van Etton, you're bound to at least find this album likable. I personally though it could have had a couple more "Strange Hellos" on it to break up the pacing a bit, but that's more of a personal preference since I imagine a lot of people really loving the calm tone and pace of this album.

8.4/10

The Tallest Man On Earth: Dark Bird Is Home ALBUM REVIEW

Kristian Matsson is a Swedish singer songwriter who goes by the moniker of The Tallest Man On Earth, and for the past 7 years or so, he has been crafting a string of solid albums that hold true to the roots of what folk music was in the 60s and 70s. He has been compared to greats such as Bob Dylan for his songwriting and even the sound of his voice which tends to sound a little nasal. However, despite the comparisons, Kristian has been able to create a sound that is uniquely him and has garnered him a lot of praise. However, as folk artists tend to do, Matsson has been slowly adding more and more instrumentation to his tracks, to the point where an album as bare bones as The Wild Hunt seems like a distant past, despite only being released 5 years ago.

I have to be honest and say that I wasn't the biggest fan of his last album. Though that had a bit more to do with the fact that the songs that Matsson was writing didn't seem to fit his new found fondness for more instrumentation. And upon hearing the initial singles from this latest album, I knew I was in for even more evolution is regards to the fleshing out of Matsson's backing instrumentation. But, I actually think, for the most part, that the songs here are more fit to the instrumentation than they were on There's No Leaving Now.

The album opens up with what are easily the two most instrumentally lavish tracks on the entire album, especially the track "Darkness of the Dream" which is downright poppy and also kind of reminds me of a gospel song? Then we get the more folky, though lyrically odd "Singers" which has a rather wordy chorus that is more of a tongue twister than I'd expect from a guy who is usually very blunt and to the point when it comes to lyrics. Other highlights include the piano led "Little Nowhere Towns" and the peppy "Timothy" which is probably the brightest track on the entire album instrumentally.

It is important to note that there aren't really many quite, subdued moments on Dark Bird Is Home as all the added instrumentation keeps most all of these tracks from being as personal and contemplative as a track like "Drying of the Lawns" was on The Wild Hunt, though the lyrics here are bit more personal, with Matsson singing more from the first person than ever before.

While I do think this album is really solid, and I like it a lot, I do miss Matsson's more subtle approach to songwriting. What makes an album like The Wild Hunt so amazing is not just the fantastic vocals and guitar playing that Kristian possesses, but the fact that he could make a song so powerful with nothing but those two components. There's nothing as energized and urgent as a track like "King of Spain" on Dark Bird Is Home, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but could have made this album feel a bit more important in the Tallest Man On Earth canon.

This album is, like I said, a very good one, but I think this may simply be the stepping stone to Matsson either making an album that finally marries the best of his early and later material, or the big release of instrumentation before a more contemplative release.

8.0/10

Best Coast: California Nights ALBUM REVIEW

I did a review of the last Best Coast EP last year, it wasn't a serious review by any stretch of the imagination, but I still gave it a score to reflect my actual feelings on the project. That middle of the road score sums up my feelings on Best Coast in general, and on their latest LP, California Nights, the duo do absolutely nothing to change that. In fact, this album actually made me kind of loath this group's sunny, dumbed down version of rock, something I wasn't expecting since I'm usually able to find at least some fun with this kind of music.

First, I'm going to point out the things I like about this album... the track "Feeling Ok" is decent.
That's it. That is where my enjoyment of this album begins and ends because by the end of this song I feel like I've heard enough. The shallow and kind of asinine lyrics, predictable reverb-laden instrumentals and mopey, yet sunny attitude are just too much for me to deal with for more than 3 minutes.

Add to that the fact that nearly every song on this album blends together in a mash of distortion and  weak melodies, and I can't really see why anyone, outside of hardcore Best Coast fans would enjoy this at all. It is even hard to zone out to because you'll be perpetually brought back to consciousness by how melodramatic and corny nearly every line on this album is; case and point, the track "Heaven Sent".

I've been listening to a lot of rock music lately and while I've had the pleasure of enjoying some really great new rock albums, I've had just as many, if not more, bland and forgettable ones; this album is of the latter category. Best Coast seem to like the way they sound because they literally haven't changed anything in the past 5 years, feel free to prove me wrong.

Anyway, I'm not going to waste any more time on this album; I didn't like it, not at all and think that if you're looking for a sunny, feel good rock album, go listen to that Alvvays album from last year, or just go listen to The Drums self-titled, both are actually catchy and balance the melodrama with some legitimately great songs.

2.0/10 

Mumford & Sons: Wilder Mind ALBUM REVIEW

For the past few years, Mumford & Sons have been a punching bag for snobby, hipster publications and blogs. They were playing a style of music that a lot of bands played, but they had a bigger budget and sounded better than most bands in the neo-folk genre. Sure they were a bit bland, but I'd say their last album Babel was an improvement over their debut. In short, I don't hate Mumford & Sons, I think they do neo-folk more justice than other people in their sector, especially someone like Edward Sharp or Passenger.

Wilder Mind is a big change of pace for the band, they have turned from their folk roots and have instead opted to plug in their guitars and go for a rock sound... one that is just as bland and boring as the hipster blogs said their last two albums were. I'm not going to spend a lot of time writing about this album because it doesn't warrant it. All you really need to know about Wilder Mind is that if you liked the band's past sound or even just want a solid rock album; this is not the album you're looking for.

This album just sounds so played out and repetitive, I could hardly tell these tracks apart on my first couple of listens. Not one of these tracks, save for maybe "The Wolf" warranted a response from me, and that track only got one because it has a decent melody and actually possesses a modicum of energy. But that is where the positives stop for me, this album simply left me wanting so much more.

Also, I just want to point out something that makes this album even more irritating: the production. I mean, these guys have always sounded clean cut, but this album takes the genre of rock and runs it through a washing machine full of every conceivable cleaning product on the planet, then douses it all in a really bland reverb effect until everything feels cavernous and "big", when in truth, it just sounds distant and empty.

I've listened to a lot of really solid rock albums this year, even from bands that I wasn't expecting much from, but Mumford & Sons have put out an album that takes all the energy of rock music and shoots it out somewhere in the stratosphere, never to be seen again. Ed Sheeran is doing more energetic rock music than Mumford & Sons.

3.0/10

The Mountain Goats: Beat The Champ ALBUM REVEW

The Mountain Goats are a folk band masterminded by singer-songwriter, John Darnielle. Personally, I'm not that well acquainted with the band's back catalogue, but I have been keeping up with their last couple of records. From what I've heard, The Mountain Goats always come through with simple chords, lightly backed by horns or maybe a piano, but it is all kept very stripped back and simple.

John Darnielle seems to hold to this kind of folk ethos, where you keep the instruments in the back and let the lyrics and stories do all the work, and for the most part on this album that works really really well. It also doesn't hurt that this record has a strong narrative and a lot of standout stories. If you couldn't tell from the cover, this is an entire album about the sport of pro wrestling. This world has always been the but of jokes in both song and in everyday life, but John has such a deep appreciation of the world of pro wrestling and uses every song on Beat The Champ to paint a picture of various people and situations in this world.

Songs like "Foreign Object", "Wolf Gimmick", and "Choked Out" all describe the violence involved, and have the most upbeat and energetic instrumentals to reflect that. While tracks like the opener and "Animal Mask" tell stories about coming up in small towns and the journey of becoming a pro wrestler. We also get a short glimpse of Darnielle's own love of pro wrestling on the track "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" where he claims that he even hated Chavo's enemies.

I'd say that pretty much every track on this album is a winner as far as lyrics go, some songs make me laugh, like the unhinged character portrayed on "Wolf Gimmick" and others are quite sad like "Heel Turn 2". Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the instrumentation on this album. It's not that any of these tracks sound terrible, just that really none of them are anything you haven't heard before if you've listened to a Mountain Goats album. The chords, as I said before, are simple and to the point, and while I did appreciate some of the added instrumentation, overall, it didn't necessarily make the album any better than it would have been if it was just John with his acoustic guitar.

Still, this is a really good album, and I found myself enjoying it a lot. Even if you have zero interest in the subject matter here, I still think that the stories in and of themselves are enough to justify giving this album a try.

7.5/10

Blur: The Magic Whip

Brit-pop legends Blur haven't released any new material in a while, in fact, they only released a small string of singles in the time between their last full length Think Tank and their latest album The Magic Whip. But that's not surprising since half the band went on to release rather successful solo material, especially lead singer Damon Albarn, who masterminded the incredibly popular animated band Gorrilaz. In fact, I'd say that Albarn's solo material is of particular importance to this new full length by Blur, since the album tends to be a bit more gloomy than past Blur albums.

Tracks like "New World Towers" would have fit perfectly on Everyday Robots, the solo LP that Albarn put out a while ago. That doesn't mean that The Magic Whip simply comes off like an Albarn album, because unlike that solo material, the band brings a lot more detail and life into these tracks, so even when electronics pop up or Damon pens a gloomy melody, he is backed up by a great rhythm section and even some nice guitar solos.

At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the more depressed sound of this album since I've been becoming tired of Damon Albarn's tendency to be rather dreary, but like I said before, the rest of the band really balances things out and even the lyrics and melodies are sharper than they have been on recent Albarn solo projects. Though I wouldn't say there is a clear unifying theme to the album, there are tracks like "There Are Too Many Of Us" that aim at exploring certain feelings; in this case, the feeling of isolation that one can experience even in the midst of a crowd.

While the album is going for a more slowed down and contemplative tone, there are a handful of more upbeat tracks here, nearly all of which work incredibly well. "Lonesome Street" and "I Broadcast" are what I would consider classic Blur tracks, with bright guitars, energetic drumming, and group vocals that instantly reminded me of tracks from Parklife or Modern Life Is Rubbish. However, my favorite of these more energetic tracks is the penultimate track, "Ong Ong" which just has such a gloriously upbeat feeling to it, and the constant stream of 'la la la's and harmonized chorus are just irresistibly catchy.

Despite having some reservations with the more somber atmosphere, I can safely say that I think this new Blur album is great. It doesn't really come together as an 'album' but it does offer some really great tracks that I'll be returning to for the remainder of the year.

8.5/10